


All These Little Joys

by ThereIsNoTragedyInThat



Series: 30 Day OTP Challenge- Cherik Edition [4]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: 30 Day OTP Challenge, Boys In Love, Cute, Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Short & Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, X-Men: First Class (2011), hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-17 03:20:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19945372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThereIsNoTragedyInThat/pseuds/ThereIsNoTragedyInThat
Summary: Erik starts to see a future where there is no hiding.Day Four: Hand-holding





	All These Little Joys

**Author's Note:**

> As always, link in the first story will take you to the prompt list!
> 
> Day Four: Hand-holding

Erik sat quietly on the front steps of the mansion, inhaling the fresh air and taking in the rather expansive grounds. There was something both unsettling and comforting about the place, a paradox that left him eager to explore and familiarize himself with his surroundings.

This, he had been told in whispers the night before, was home in name only. The Xavier Estate had sat unoccupied these many years, acting as a holding box of unpleasant memories and angry voices. Erik had already been privy to how they affected Charles, had seen the darkness beneath his eyes and the way in which he and Raven never strayed too far from one another.

But it was getting better.

Erik could see it in the way Charles smiled as the children invaded the space and made it their own. Could see it when tension seeped out of shoulders, when smiles came easier, when he spent more and more time staring at other inhabitants instead of closed doors.

Yes, it was getting better.

The door creaked behind him, but Erik didn’t react. He’d felt Charles’s presence in the back of his mind for the past thirty minutes, his restlessness, his distraction. Somewhere along the way there had been a silent agreement to go for a walk. It was a little ridiculous how eager Erik was.

The training had been taking up a lot of time.

They still played chess every evening, fell into bed together afterwards, spent dinners staring across the table at one another. This though, this would be nice, and Erik couldn’t wait to get him alone for a little while.

_Erik?_

He glanced up to find Charles smiling down at him, sweater wrapped snugly around him and eyes glittering with a vitality Erik had missed these past few days, “ready to go?”

Charles nodded, and strode down the stairs and onto the gravel path that would wrap around to the back of the house. Erik didn’t even have to try to keep up with him, his longer legs taking easy strides.

The silence, as they began the trek toward the forest was comfortable. Erik watched as Charles breathed in the fresh air deeply, back straightening and a little smile playing around his lips. The sight was perfect, exactly what Erik wanted to see.

The serenity, however, was shattered when Erik felt familiar fingers slipping casually into his own. His eyes flew to where they were now doing something so mundane as holding hands as they walked. Despite himself, Erik felt his heart begin to pound in his chest and the prickling sensation on the back of his neck spoke of his paranoia that someone might be watching.

“Erik?”

He looked up to find Charles looking at him, brows furrowed in concern as they slowed to a stop. Erik didn’t know what to say, wasn’t sure how to explain that something as simple as Charles holding his hand, out here, in the open was making his stomach twist sickly.

“Oh.”

Charles obviously read those thoughts and for once Erik wasn’t angry. The hand in his squeezed gently and Erik forced out a choked, “sorry.”

Charles shook his head, “don’t be. You know none of the children mind right? And we can’t be seen from here, I’d know.”

He did know that. Not one of the children had batted an eye when Charles took to staying by his side and brushing causal touches over him. There wasn’t a hint of suspicion or disgust and he trusted Charles not to have done anything if there was even a whisper of dislike among their charges.

All the same.

Charles stayed quiet as Erik slowly lifted their hands. It wasn’t as though he’d never clasped them together before, they had, many times in many different situations. But to just hold each other while walking…it was novel. He glanced around briefly, unable to help himself after years of learned behaviour in a world where being gay was so terribly taboo and slowly brought their hands to his lips.

The smile that earned him, was worth every uncomfortable lurch of his heart.

_If it makes you uncomfortable, we don’t have too-_

_No._

Charles raised an eyebrow.

Erik worked hard to infuse confidence into his mental voice; _I like it. I was just surprised._

A nod. Charles began tugging him back down the trail, hand holding tightly onto his and not faltering in the least. Erik found himself watching where they connected, unable to tear away his gaze and trusting Charles to lead them where he wanted to go.

The warmth of his hand was comfortable and the strangeness of their two different lives was evident. Charles’s hand was all softness and firm gripped, steady just like the man himself. Erik’s hand was marred with scars and callouses, tight to the point of desperation but just as steady.

Erik never thought he could find something as simple as holding someone’s hand beautiful.


End file.
